Automatic draw-off roller mechanism for full fashioned knitting machines



April 1935. K. R. LIEBERKNECHT 1,998,511

AUTOMATIC DRAW-OFF ROLLER MECHANISM FOR FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINES Filed 001;. 6, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 =0 0 N 222253 5? I: 52 i I L H III! I 0 INVENTOR Karl R101; LLeberknecht ATTORNEY April 3 1935. K. R. LiEBERKNEC'HT 1,998,511 AUTOMATIC DRAW-OFF ROLLER MECHANISM FOR FULL FASHIONED KN ITTING MACHINES Filed on. e, 1955 #Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 7 Karl Rich. Lieberkneehi' ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 23, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE AUTOMATIC nnaw orr ROLLER MECHA- NISM FOR FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINES Karl R. Lieberlinecht, Oberlungwitz, Germany,

assignor to Kalio Inc., New York, N. Y., a cor.- poration of New York Application October 6, 1933, Serial No. 692,368

13 Claims. (01. 66-149) This invention relates'to a device for autoafter which a certain amount of tension is rematically controllingthe tension upon the drawquired during the completion of the heel tabs. off roller of a full fashioned knitting machine so Thereafter when the sole portion is begun the that the tension under which the fabric is tension is again increased and thereafter dedrawn off may be decreased as the width of the creased at intervals until the toe is completed.- 5

fabric decreases, and increased as the fabric When a new stocking is begun thetension must, width increases, so that a greater or less tension of course, be restored to its original value and may be applied to the fabric at any desired time the cycle repeated. By this invention all of irrespective of' its width or whether it is inthese changes in tension are automatically percreasing or decreasing and so that the tension formed; 10 may be entirely relieved when desired without One form of the invention which has been sedisarranging the tension control for other times. lected solely for purposes of illustration is shown It has been the practice to maintain the tenin the following drawings, in which sion upon the draw-ofi roller by means of a Figure l is a fragmentary diagrammatic view 5 Weight suspended from a rope theother end of in perspective of a full fashioned knitting which is wound around a pulley keyed to the chine showing the tensioning" device. applied roller shaft, the weight being increased or dethereto; creased manually by the operator of the machine Fig. 2' is an end elevation of the tensioning deas required. This introduces an undesirable vice; l v

- human factor since the operator may forget to Fig. 3 is a fragmentary end elevation of a part 20 remove or add weights at the proper times with of the tensioning device showing thetensioning the result that the loops of the fabric are elongatweights in different positions;

ed when they should be uniform and vice versa, Fig. 4 is an enlarged View of a weight holder; thus marring the desired character and quality Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the mechanism for 5 of the fabric as well as placing an undue strain eliminating all of the tension; and 25.

upon the needles which has frequently resulted Fig. 6 is an enlarged View of the tension rope in bending or breaking them. Furthermore, if pulley and its associated operating mechanism. insufficient tension is applied to the fabric the As the knitting progresses on'needles 2 the comloops may not be cast off. The fabric will the pleted fabric is drawn 011 and wound upon a load p 011 the needlesdraw-off roller 3. Draw-off roller 3, of which 3 By the present invention the tension upon the there is one for each section of the machine, is draw-off roller is maintained by weight as in the fastened to a shaft 4 on one end 'of which is P but the 0011\71301 and Varying 0f the ight loosely mounted pulley 5, the operative connection and consequently of the tension is performed between it and the shaft 5 being a ratchet 5 atentirely automatically and without the interventached to the shaft and a pawl 5 pivoted upon 35. tion of the operator. Furthermore, means is the pulley. Obviously the pulley may be di provided wherefore the utmost flexibility in varygaged from the shaft at any time simply by raising the tension is secured in that at any desired ing pawl 5 Attached to pulley 5 and wound time any desired increase as well as decrease of around it a few turns is a rope 6 which, as will 40 tension s mad possible, and this is done 311110- be hereinafter explained, is equipped with anum- 40 a c y in accordance With a prearranged ber of weights by means of which the desired schedule. amount of tension is communicated to the draw- Vari us l s f kin s r qu re varying off roller 3 and consequently to the fabric wound am un of n i n pp tv yi s times- By thereon. Hope a is led from pulley 5 over fixed this invention the desired amounts and the propguide pulleys E, 8 and 9 mounted upon a frame l0 er variation thereof are obtained with great ease and has'attached to its free end an adjustable and accuracy. I counter-Weight H. Counter-weight H is nor- As an illustration of the complicated tension mally supported upon a stop lever l2 which may requirements frequently encountered, the manube swung aside to permit the counter-weight to so facture of stockings upon single unit knitting drop in which case itcomes to rest upon'a stop 5 machines is an excellent example. During the I3 adjustably attached to frame l0. Thus counknitting of the leg it is necessary to decrease the tor-weight I i which, in the ordinary. manually tension several times at certain definite courses. operated draw-off device, supplies the weight When the heel tabs are knit all tension should which creates the tension, in this invention mere 05 be removed for a certain number of courses ly acts as an anchor for the end of the rope in one or the other of the two positions referred to above.

Upon rope 6 between guide pulleys l' and 3 are suspended a series of weights, four being shown at l4, i5, i6, and ii, but which may be of any desired number. Each weight may be composed of severaf individual weights, any number of which may be removed thus giving great flexibility to the tension control. Weights M to ll may be suspended in any desired way, that shown consisting of a fork 14 terminating at its lower end in a platform l4 upon: which the. removable weights are supported, and having between its arms pulleys 14 and IM over and under which, respectively, rope 5 passes; By this an".- rangement each of the weights M to IT hangs in a small bight of rope 6. Attached to the top of each fork M is a rope 514- which passes over guide pulleys 14 in the top of frame [0,. the other end of the rope hanging free but being equipped with an adjustable stop i4. As rope Ii unwinds from pulley 5 as the length of the completed fabric. increases, that portion of rope 5 hanging between guide pulleys l and 8 becomes longer. Consequently weights 4- to H which are suspended in this section. move downwardly. When the length of this" portion of rope 5 has increased enough one of the stops l4 will engage with frame m adjacent pulley 4 and anyfurther lengthening of rope 3 will eliminate the tension provided by this particular weight since its limit of descent has been reached. The same is true of the other weights which are similarly arranged. The total weight of weights l4 to l! which, as already stated, may be varied at will, determines. the normal tension upon the rope 6 andconsequently upon the fabric drawn off. The decreas-' ing of this tension is controlled by the position of each of stops l4. By these means any amount of tension may be applied to the fabric and any amount of it removed at any desired time.

When it is desired to again increase the tension, for example, at the beginning of the sole portion of a stocking knit on a single unit machine, the weights, some of which will normally be suspended from the frame it! through engagement of one or more stops l4 with it, are again picked up by that part of the rope 6 between pulleys I and'f! by shortening the rope. This is accomplished as follows: Counter-weight H has been resting on stop lever 12. This stop is now swung out of position so that weight H is released and falls carrying rope B with it until it encounters stop l3. This will shorten the rope between pulleys l and 8 and cause it to again assume the support of weights M to H or as many of them as desired, depending upon the adjustment of stops H and the position of stop 13. Thereafter the device operates as before, the weights descending as the length of rope 6 increases until they are brought to rest by stops 54 as already described. Stop lever I2 is automatically removed from under counter-weight l l by the following means: Stop lever I2 forms one arm of a bell crank which is pivoted to any suitable part of the machine, the other arm 25 of which carries a cam roller shaft 25 upon which a cam roller 25 is slidably and rotatably mounted. Cam roller 25* is provided with a collar 25 which engages a fork 24 in one'end of an arm 24 The other end of arm 24* is connected to a rod 23 which may slide longitudinally in suitable brackets such as 30. The other end of rod 23 connects with a bell crank 22 which is adapted to be rocked by means of a pattern chain 2|. When a suitable button engages with bell crank 22 rod 23 will he slid to the right against the tension of spring 3! and cam roller 25 will also be moved to the right into the path of cam 26 on the main cam shaft. When the high portion of cam 26 passes under roller 25 arm 25 upon which the roller is mounted will be raised. Consequently stop lever 12 which forms theother arm of the bell crank will be swung to the right and from underneath counter-weight H. H will fall, as already described, until it encounters stop l3 when it will again come to rest. Hope 6 will be shortened an amount equal to the distance counter-weight i I has moved and all or some of weights [4 to I! will again be supported by rope G. In this way the tension upon the finished fabric may be automatically decreased at wi'l-land then increased and then decreased again at any time and to any degree desired.

At certain times it is necessary or desirable to eliminate all tension from the fabric for several courses as when knitting the first courses of the heeltabs on a single unit knitting machine. This is accomplished by rotating the draw-off roller 3 against the pull of rope 6 thus temporarily eliminating the effect of the tensicning weights without disturbing their adjustment. The mech anism employed may be, in part, that described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,878,868 granted to Karl Willi Lieberknecht, on September 20-, 1932,; for removing the tension during the pressing off operation for each course. It consists essentially of a disc keyed to shaft 4 or attached to draw-off roller 3 and an arm 5i s'wingably mounted on shaft 4 and provided with an eccentric cam or inclined surface 52. Between disc50 and cam 52 a friction roller 53 is loosely mounted. This is normally supported by a stationary stop 54 which maintains it out of operative engagement between cam, surface 52 and disc 50. To the free end of lever 5| is pivotally connected one end of a link 5', the other end of which is pivoted to one end of a rock lever 56 which is rockably mounted upon a suitable pivot 58 intermediate its ends. The other end of rock lever 56 carries a cam roller 59 which can engage with a cam 60 on the main cam shaft. When in such engagement with the high part of the cam, arm 5!, link 55, and lever 56 will first wedge roller 53 between disc 50 and cam 52 and further motion will rotate shaft 5 slightly in a direction opposed to that caused by rope 6. As long as this condition is maintained all tension is removed from the fabric. Obviously this will occur at each rotation of cam 60 on the main cam shaft or, in other words, during the knitting of each course, as long as cam roller 59 is in engagement with the high part of cam 60. When cam roller 59 leaves the high part of cam 6! arm 5| will rock down again, wedge roller 53 will strike. stop 54, which will disengage it from. between disc and cam surface 52 allowing the normal tension to be again applied to draw-off roller.3 through rope 6. Since, in addition, the tension should be removed during the knitting of several entire courses when the heel tabs are begun as already explained means, other than cam 60, must be provided to maintain. wedge roller 53 in wedging engagement between disc 59 and cam surface 527 To this end a pin M is afiixed to rock lever 56 adjacent cam roller 5:). A lever 36 is rockably mounted upon a suitable bracket 31 attached to the frame of the machine. One end of lever 35 terminates in a hook 36 adapted to engage with pin 4| when roller 59 is Thereupon counter-weight riding upon the high part of cam 60. The other end of lever 36 is engageable with a cam block mounted upon a longitudinally slidable rod 3 1. As shown in Fig. l when'rod 34 is slid to the right cam block 35 will engage with the free end of lever 36 and will elevate it. This will cause the other end 36 of lever 36 to be depressed and to engage with pin 4! on lever 55 and will prevent cam roller 59 from thereafter following the contour of cam 60. When slide rod 34 is slid to the left again cam piece 35 is disengaged from lever 303 permitting end 36 to rise under the urge of spring 3t, and to disengage from pin 4i.

Automatic control of slide rod 34 may be provided by the same pattern chain 2! which controls the other slide rod 23. To this end slide rod 34 is connected to another bell crank 34* similar to and mounted adjacent to bell crank 22 which operates rod 23. When a suitable series of buttons 32 on pattern chain 2| engages with bell crank 3t rod 34 is slid to the right to move cam piece 35 into action. When buttons 32 disengage from bell crank 34 rod 34 returns to its original position to the left under the urge of a spring 43 and roller 59 again rests upon cam 60. After the completion of a stocking the tensioning device may be reset into its original state by manually raising counter-weight i i onto stop lever i2 and winding up rope 6 on pulley 5. In fact pulley 5 affords a means of manual readjustment at any time desired.

By the above mechanisms the control -of the tension upon the completed fabric is made entirely automatic throughout the knitting of a stocking. The device may be added to a standard knitting machine without great expense and without materially affecting the standard parts or the usual attachments. It insures that the correct tension will be applied at the proper time and eliminates the human factor which has been responsible for much defective fabric.

What I claim is:

1. In a flat knitting machine having a drawoif roller, means for applying a constant rotative tension to the draw-off roller, means for automatically fractionally reducing said tension in timed relation to the knitting, and means for automatically fractionally increasing said tension also in timed relation to the knitting.

2. In a fiat knitting machine having a draw-off roller, means for applying a constant rotative tension to said roller, means for automatically fractionally decreasing said tension a predetermined amount, means for automatically fractionally increasing said tension again a predetermined.

amount, and means for completely neutralizing the rotative effect of said rotative tension on said roller, all of said alterations of tension being effected at predetermined times in relation to knitting.

3. In a flat knitting machine a draw-01f roller, a pulley operatively fixed with respect to said roller, a rope wound around said pulley, a series of Weights each supported by said rope independently of the others, means for automatically relieving said rope from the weight of each weight in a predetermined order and time sequence, and means for automatically restoring to said rope one or more of said weights.

4. In a flat knitting machine a draw-off roller, a pulley operatively fixed with respect to said roller, a rope wound around said pulley, a series of weights each supported by said rope independently of the others, means for automatically relieving said rope from the weight of each weight in a predetermined order and time sequence, means for automatically restoring to said rope one or more of said weights, and means for neutralizing the effect of said weights upon said pulley, all of said alterations of tension being effected at predetermined times in relation to knitting.

5. In a flat knitting machine a draw-off roller, a pulley operatively fixed with respect to said roller, a rope wound around said pulley, a series of weights each supported by said rope independently of the others, means for automatically relieving said rope from the weight of each weight in a predetermined order and time sequence, means for automatically restoring to said rope one or more of said weights, and means for neutralizing the effect of said weights upon the said pulley throughout the knitting of a predetermined number of consecutive courses.

6. Ina flat knitting machine having a draw-off roller, means for applying a constant rotative tension to the draw-off roller, means for automatically fractionally reducing said rotative tension a predetermined amount, means for increasing said rotative tension at predetermined amount,

predetermined amount, means for increasing said rotative tension a predetermined amount, and means for automatically controlling said tension increasing means operated by a pattern chain.

8. In a flat knitting machine having a draw-off roller, means for applying a constant rotative tension to said roller, means for automatically fractionally decreasing said tension a predetermined amount, means for automatically increasing said tension again a predetermined amount, and means for completely neutralizing the rotative effect of said rotative tension on said roller, said tension increasing and neutralizing means being governed by a pattern chain.

9. In a flat knitting machine having a drawoif shaft, a roller keyed to said shaft, a pulley keyed to said shaft, a rope one end of which is wound around said pulley, the other end of which is attached to a counter-weight, a loop in said rope, a multiplicity of weights separately supported in said loop, means for successively relieving said rope from the weight of said weights as it is unwound from said pulley, and means for shortening said loop to suspend said weights from said rope again.

10. In a fiat knitting machine having a drawoff shaft, a roller keyed to said shaft, a pulley keyed to said shaft, a rope one end of which is wound around said pulley the other end of which is attached to a counter-weight, a loop in said rope, a multiplicity of weights separately supported in said loop, means for successively relieving said rope from the weight of said weights as it is unwound from said pulley, and means for shortening said loop to suspend said weights from said rope again, said lifting means for each weight comprising a rope attached by one end to each weight and passing over a superimposed fixed guide and having an adjustable stop beyond said guide for limiting the distance through which each weight can descend.

11. In a fiat knitting machine having a drawoii shaft, a roller keyed to said shaft, a pulley keyed to said shaft, a rope one end of which is wound around said pulley the other end of which is attached to a counter-weight, ,a loop in said rope, a multiplicity of weights separately supported in said loop, means for successively relieving said rope from the weight of said weights as it is unwound from said pulley, and means for shortening said loop to suspend said weights from said rope again, said shortening means comprising a removable support beneath said counterweight, means for removing it in timed relation to the knitting to permit the counter-weight to drop and an adjustable secondary support beneath said removable support to receive said counter-weight.

12. In a flat knitting machine having a drawoff shaft, a roller keyed to said shaft, a pulley keyed to said shaft, a rope one end of which is Wound around said pulley the other end of which is attached to a counter-weight, a loop in said rope, a multiplicity of weights separately supported in said loop, means for successively relieving said rope from the weight of said weights as it is unwound from said pulley, means for shortening said loop to suspend said weights from said rope again, and meansfor operating said shortening means in timed relation to the knitting controlled by a pattern chain.

13. In a fiat knitting machine having a drawoii shaft, a roller keyed to said shaft, a pulley keyed to said shaft, a rope one end of which is wound around said pulley the other end of which is attached to a counter-weight, a loop in said rope, a multiplicity of weights separately supported in said loop, means for successively relieving said rope from the weight of said Weights as it is unwound from said pulley, means for shortening said loop to suspend said weights from said rope again, said shortening means comprising a removable support beneath said counter-weight, and pattern chain means for removing it in timed relation to the knitting to permit the counter-weight to drop and an adjustable secondary support beneath said removable support to receive said counter-weight.

KARL RICH. LIEBERKNECHT. 

